Oscar Pistorius’ sister and brother, Amee and Carl, are closing their Twitter accounts after Carl’s was hacked (Picture: EPA)

Oscar Pistorius’ brother’s Twitter account was hacked by someone pretending to be the Olympic sprinter, thanking people who have prayed for both his and the Steenkamp families, a spokeswoman said today.

Carl Pistorius and his sister Amee are now shutting their accounts as a result.

The message tweeted to 13,000 followers after the Olympian was bailed read: ‘Thank-you to every person that has prayed for both families, Osca’.

A message on Carl Pistorius’ twitter page first thought to be from Oscar was a fake, say the family (Picture: Twitter)

It was initially reported as the track star’s first public reaction, outside of his court appearance, since he was charged with the premeditated murder and shooting of his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

But the family spokeswoman said: ‘It is most unfortunate that during this sensitive time, someone would choose to hack into Oscar Pistorius’ older brother’s Twitter handle.

‘Carl Pistorius did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva.

‘We are busy cancelling all the social media sites for both Oscar’s brother and his sister.’

The 26-year-old sprinter was bailed yesterday after being charged with murdering the law graduate-turned-model at his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day.

Mike Steenkamp, Reeva’s uncle, told The Associated Press that the Pistorius family did not send condolences or try to contact the bereaved parents, but had since sought to reach out in what he described as a poorly timed way.

After Pistorius was released on bail, Arnold Pistorius said the athlete’s family was relieved but also in mourning ‘with the family’ of Miss Steenkamp.

‘I think it was just done in the wrong context, completely,’ said her uncle.